Une très belle soirée at Elite Food Festival

Malgrate waterfront

Malgrate – You’d probably never associate high-class with the typically casual atmosphere of street food, but here we go again with another shindig at a location near moi. Malgrate sits directly across the lake from Lecco’s popular waterfront location and is one of many small towns that no one ever hears about after Varenna, Como, and Bellagio. That may change soon enough with the recent construction of an elegant promenade along the shore, and the publicity generated from hosting Elite Food Festival this past weekend was a great idea.

We discovered new vendors while eating our way down the street on Friday night and went back again on Sunday to pick up where we left off. I know. It’s spiraling out of control.

1. Moto Grill Guzzi

They’re on all the top food truck lists thanks to their perfectly grilled bombette (pork rollups), but their chicken wings (4 for 6€), dripping with delicious grilled flavor, are also good.

2. AbraCalabria

With a catchy name like AbraCalabria, there’s no resisting their specialty burgers made with suino nero, a black domestic pig from Calabria. A paradise for pork lovers and fans of spicy heat, the burger menu has something for everyone. Socera (mother-in-law) shown below, is for serious folks only: habanero cream and fresh chile peppers crank up the heat on a pork patty with pecorino and caramelized Tropea onions. Mouth. On. Fire. More porky goodness on Sunday when we tried the AbraCalabria and Silano.

3. Master Sciatt

Sciatt (pronounced sheeAHT) are tasty bite-size fritters made with cubed cheese dipped in a buckwheat flour batter. It’s a typical dish from Valtellina in northern Lombardy.

4. Giamilla Bakery, 5. Dulcibus, 6. Austrian Taste

Giamilla Bakery’s veggie bagel was a welcome change from meat overload. Dulcibus’ yummy gelato (Concord grape and mascarpone with walnuts & figs) ended things on a sweet note.

Giamilla veggie bagel

Dulcibus gelato

And for some traditional Austrian cuisine, spinach spaetzle with pancetta, a warm brezel, and kaiserschmarrn from Austrian Taste food truck was Sunday’s international lunch.

Austrian Taste food truck

Spinach spaetzle

Kaiserschmarrm

So what was so elite about it? Well apart from the oysters (4 for 10€, but we passed), champagne, and impossibly gorgeous views of the water, Friday night’s entertainment Belle Histoire is what made the evening special. Playing french and italian tunes from the 50’s and 60’s, I felt as if we were sitting under the stars in the Côte d’Azur. Une très belle soirée indeed.